Monthly Archives: August 2009

Lupa Zoo

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LZ_01From a friend at work who has a young child I heard about a small zoo in Ludlow, which is fairly close to my home, so I decided to check it out today.  Although it remained cloudy all day and even began to drizzle in the late afternoon, I was one of many visitors to the Lupa Zoo.  Of course many families with children were strolling along the paths, so the sounds of occasional tantrums and hissy fits competed with the animal vocalizations.

I took a lot of photos, but most of them I deleted (aren’t digital cameras great at this) because they didn’t come out well.   I also tried writing down the names of the animals I photographed so the captions below should be fairly accurate, except that I am having a hard time reading my notes, which I scribbled in pencil on a scrap of paper I found in the glove compartment of my car.

The Zoo exhibits a wide variety of species, with emphasis on the “charismatic megafauna,” as the fund-raisers call them.  Here is a completely random list of some of the animals I liked, grouped by order but not further classified.

Order Primates:

  • Olive Baboon in Family Cercopithecidae (Papio anubis)
  • Squirrel Monkey in Family Cebidae (Simia sciureus)
  • Ring-Tailed Lemur in Family Lemuridae (Lemur catta)
  • Common Marmoset in Family Callitrichidae (Callithrix jacchus)

Order Carnivora:

  • Large-spotted Genet in Family Viverridae (Genetta tigrina)
  • Serval in Family Felidae (Leptailurus serval)
  • Himalayan Black Bear in Family Ursidae (Ursus thibetanus)
  • Coatimundi in Family Procyonidae (genus Nasua or Nasuella — don’t know which)

Order: Hyracoidea, Family: Procaviidae

  • Tree Hyrax (Dendrohyrax arboreus or dorsalis — don’t know which it is)

Order: Rodentia, Family: Erethizontidae

  • Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine (genus Coendou — don’t know which species)

Order: Perissodactyla, Family: Equidae

  • Zebra (Equus grevyi — I think it is the Grevy’s)

Order: Artiodactyla, Family: Bovidae

  • Yak (Bos grunniens)

Order: Diprotodontia, Family: Macropodidae

  • Kangaroo (genus Macropus — don’t know which species)

Order: Strigiformes, Family: Strigidae

  • Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

Here are the ones I photographed, mostly through the bars of their cages:

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  • Left: Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas)
  • Center: Fennec Fox (Vulpes zerda)
  • Right: Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

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  • Left: Black Panther (Panthera pardus, melanistic color variant)
  • Center: Camel (Camelus dromedarius)
  • Right: Eland (Taurotragus oryx)

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  • Left: Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata)
  • Center: American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
  • Right: Ostrich, up close and personal (Struthio camelus)

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  • Left: Peacock (Pavo cristatus)
  • Right: Peacock, closeup (Pavo cristatus)

I love animals, but I hated to see them in cages here.  I am a card-carrying member of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and we recite our four points like a mantra:  Animals are not ours to (1) Eat, (2) Wear, (3) Experiment on, or (4) Use for entertainment.   Here is their statement on zoos:  “PETA opposes zoos because zoo cages and cramped enclosures deprive animals of their most basic needs.”  According to Lupa Zoo’s mission statement:

We are committed to offering high-quality educational experiences in an urban recreational setting, providing environmental education that inspires public awareness of global conservation, and creating scientific programs which make meaningful contributions to the conservation of animals and their ecosystems.

But what does this mean? According to PETA,

Warehousing animals is not the way to save them from extinction. Their salvation lies in protecting habitats, not in life imprisonment in zoos. Instead of patronizing zoos, help animals by supporting organizations that work to protect captive animals from exploitation and to preserve habitats.

Think about it.  Then act!

Carless in West Springfield

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My car, a 1997 Honda Civic DX, had over 266,000 miles and was overdue for 30,000-mile maintenance, so I made an appointment for this morning.  I spent last night in Northampton and dropped off the car at 8:30 am in West Springfield.  I knew it would be there for hours, so I brought my bike with me.  It’s a 12-speed Peugeot, which I’ve had for 25 years; I named her Angelica.  This is what she looks like, leaning against a building at the Honda place. Angelica
RSP_01I had pored over a map of the area and decided that Robinson State Park off North Street in Agawam would be my hangout for the day.  As the crow flies along major roads, it’s about 6 miles from Riverdale Street, but I walked the bike across busy intersections, and made a wrong turn at one point, so arrived at the Park’s main gate at around 10 am.  I had also printed out a map of the park, but that turned out not to be very helpful.  The paved road running the length of the park was one of the few depictions of geographical features that matched reality.

According to Friends of Robinson State Park, the trees in this park are its best feature:

Over 50 native tree species have been identified in the park by experts, which makes Robinson an abundantly diverse forest. More species are being found every day, as studies are ongoing. Experts have located and measured a pignut hickory that is the largest in the state. A rare community of Tulip Poplar trees is thriving in the park.

The park includes three certified vernal pools; in addition, eight species of rare dragonflies, many Eastern Box Turtles, and several other rare plants and communities have been observed here.

Of course, I saw none of these sights because I didn’t know where to look.  I biked the length of the park and then turned around, locked the bike to a post (I couldn’t find any bike racks), and started walking on some of the trails.  Though my map listed trails such as the “White,” “Red,” and “Yellow,” there were no signs marking the trail heads, and once I started down what looked like a path, blazes were confusing and the path did not match with what was printed on the map.  Here is an example of a trail marker.  Does this mean the trail is both the “Red” and the “Yellow”?  Or is this a branch, with the two trails diverging in different directions?  Needless to say, my map did not list the “Red” trail anywhere near here.  So I gave up and simply meandered through the woods.

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At one point, the trail I was on (who know which it was) took me down to the Westfield River, parts of which have been designated “wild and scenic.”  It doesn’t look so wild here, but remember that the Park comprises over 800 acres of forested land in the heart of urban Springfield-Agawam.

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Toward mid-afternoon, I started feeling hot and hungry and annoyed with the buzzing insects.  So I called it a day at the Park and headed back toward West Springfield.  I stopped at Panera in the Riverdale Shops for a late lunch, then got on my bike again and rode around on the streets which branch off Route 5 and dead-end at the Connecticut River.  This is a commercial district, but many of the buildings are empty of tenants — I guess those companies went out of business? — and there are numerous “For Lease” signs.  Signs of the times, I guess.  I did see a huge skating arena, the Olympia Ice Center, which still seems to be a going concern, though it was deserted when I rode past.